16/08/2014

Israeli Crossing into Gaza was just re-opened after deliberate and continuous rocket fire by Hamas all day yesterday.

Israel took the exceptional decision to close the crossing in order to protect the lives of workers and traders after intentional rocket fire at the Kerem Shalom Crossing on Sunday August 10, during which trucks carrying flammable materials to the Gaza Strip were almost hit. The crossing was open throughout Operation Protective Edge despite constant firing in its vicinity and is the sole artery for the passage of vital humanitarian goods and equipment to the residents of the Gaza Strip.

Starting at 06:00 Israel time on Sunday, 10 August, several rockets were intentionally fired at the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza, hitting working areas of the crossing. Despite this, the transfer of goods continued until the afternoon hours, with over 30 trucks laden with humanitarian equipment entering the Gaza Strip.At approximately 12:30, an additional barrage of rockets was fired, directly hitting the crossing compound. It was decided not to endanger the workers at the site and to halt the transfer of goods until further notice.

Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge on 8 July, the Kerem Shalom Crossing has facilitated the passage of thousands of trucks laden with medical and hygiene equipment, food products, raw materials, textiles, animal food, cleaning materials and home utensils, as well as gas and fuels.

The transfer of goods has been carried out in order to render humanitarian assistance to civilians living in the Gaza Strip.

The hospital is providing medical care to civilians injured during the current operation in Gaza.Israeli medical relief workers have earned a name worldwide for their expertise in hitting the ground running in conflict and in turmoil. This was true in Haiti, when in January 2010 Israel’s IDF Medical and Rescue Team set up a lifesaving field hospital in Port-Au-Prince to offer urgent medical care to earthquake victims, and in 2011 when Israel did the same in Japan after a devastating tsunami.

This time, Israel has set up a field hospital at the Erez Crossing, on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The aim of the field hospital, which opened on Sunday, July 20, is to provide humanitarian care to Gazan civilians injured during the current conflict between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas terrorists.

Major Guy Inbar, spokesperson for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said that, as of August 11, the field hospital had treated 51 people. Among them were women, children and the elderly. This is despite efforts by Hamas to dissuade Gazans in urgent need of care from visiting the facility.

Meanwhile, Tamar Shapira, spokesperson and international director of Save A Child’s Heart (SACH), said that their doctors and staff are committed to continuing their work, regardless of the present situation.

SACH offers lifesaving pediatric heart surgery and follow-up care to children from developing countries, including Palestinian children. Since 1996, SACH has operated on more than 2000 children from 30 different countries. Normally, every Tuesday SACH’s volunteer doctors open their clinic at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon to give free cardiology exams and advice to parents of children with heart defects and related problems. This typically includes 15 or 20 patients from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and sometimes from other Arab countries.

15/08/2014

please find attached herewith a letter on the COI to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN in New York, Ambassador Prosor, dated August 12th 2014

Israel has said it has no faith in the planned UN investigation into the Gaza war.

The IDF is investigating dozens of exceptional cases, mostly incidents in which Palestinian civilians were killed, that occurred during the hostilities in Gaza.

Besides drawing conclusions and clarifying whether some decision-making was negligent, the quick investigative process, which was launched early in the current round of fighting, was meant to help head off demands for an international inquiry into claims that Israel committed war crimes.

Israel has already said it does not have faith in the United Nations Human Rights Council and the international commission of inquiry it appointed this week. That panel, headed by Prof. William Schabas, will investigate the allegations.

The quick inquiry the IDF is conducting is based on the lessons learned in Operation Cast Lead in 2009 and Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012 in Gaza, as well as the Marmara and the Gaza Flotilla. It’s also based on the conclusions of the Turkel Commission, which investigated the Marmara incident but also dealt in depth with the investigative procedures in Israel in the case of the killing of civilians and the violation of human rights in the territories.

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has appointed a permanent General Staff committee, headed by Maj. Gen. Noam Tibon, to examine the claims of exceptional incidents during fighting.

That panel is investigating specific incidents, mostly those in which civilians were killed and claims were made that they were harmed by the IDF. But the committee is also examining broader issues connected with the fighting. Six teams work under Tibon, each in a specific area of expertise. Legal and intelligence experts are working along with experts in warfare. The work is conducted in full coordination and cooperation with the military advocate-general, Maj. Gen. Danny Efroni, and his staff. Every team has a legal adviser.

Interim findings have so far been reached in 15 cases in the recent round of fighting, while investigations of dozens of other cases have started and many others are expected.

Among the cases are those in which a large number of civilians were killed or injured, including attacks on UN facilities as well as the battle in Rafah after 1st. Lt. Hadar Goldin was abducted by a Hamas cell.

Eighty-two incidents from Pillar of Defense were investigated and most have been concluded. No disciplinary or criminal actions were taken against those involved. The second part of the Turkel Committee report, released in 2013, criticized the fact that the operational investigations the IDF conducted did not provide enough relevant details to the attorney general, as well as the long delays in completing the investigations stemming from Cast Lead.

The Tibon committee uses officers from the General Staff who were not directly involved in the fighting and are not part of the chain of command of the units that fought in Gaza, including from the Air Force and Navy, as well as the Southern Command.

Most of the cases were initiated by the IDF, though in some cases Israeli human rights organizations requested investigations.

The IDF believes its operational and legal authorities are capable of investigating the exceptional incidents independently and thoroughly without international intervention. The intent is to also provide reports on these incidents to the international bodies.

State Comptroller Joseph Shapira said yesterday he intends to examine whether Israel violated international law in Gaza.